


The Breakfast Chronicles: Beards and Blueberry Pancakes

by gray_autumn_sky



Series: The Breakfast Chronicles [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 07:39:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8135788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gray_autumn_sky/pseuds/gray_autumn_sky
Summary: No real plot, just Hood Mills Family Fluff.One Saturday morning, Regina and the boys make blueberry pancakes; meanwhile, Ellie (Peanut) is not happy when Robin shaves off his beard.





	

Still in her robe, Regina leans onto the tips of her toes, tucking the jug of milk beneath her arm as she reaches for the carton of eggs, nested too far back on the top shelf. She sighs a little as her fingers touch the cardboard, bending just enough so she can drag them forward—all the while silently cursing herself for pushing them so far back in an effort to keep little hands away from them.

She can’t help but laugh as Roland—her morning child—immediately reaches for the powdered sugar, pulling off the top and dipping two fingers in. He grins contently as he licks them, kicking his feet back and forth as he holds a bowl of fresh blueberries in his lap.

Across the counter Henry yawns—though he hasn’t said it, he’s not happy to be awake at seven-thirty on a Saturday—and his shoulders slump forward as he stares down into his orange juice. Ellie is beside him, sitting in her high chair, scowling as she holds her sippy cup, clearly sharing her big brother’s sentiment and wishing she were still tucked into her warm bed.

“Can I help?” Roland asks excitedly, watching as she lines up three bowls.

“Of course,” she replies with a warm grin as she hands him a spatula. “And you can, too.” Henry groans as she slides a glass bowl toward him then holds out a bag of flour. He reaches for it reluctantly and Roland giggles when he drops it down beside the bowl and a little cloud emerges from the top. “While Henry makes the batter, you can mash the blueberries.”

“You know, some people sleep in and then go out to breakfast…”

Regina grins in Henry’s direction. “Yes, but we are not those people.”

Again Roland giggles, taking the masher and plunging it down into the blueberries again and again, the juice squirting up and then falling back down into the bowl. Ellie watches him carefully, her blue eyes fixed on her brother as she sips her juice, every now and then emitting a tiny laugh when the blueberries slosh over the edge of the bowl.

“Where’s Robin?” Henry asks, as she cracks an egg on the edge of the glass. “Why is he excused from this… cruel and unusual punishment you’ve forced us into in the name of family bonding?”

“Oh, he’s not excused,” Regina says easily, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “He’s just on clean-up duty.”

Regina turns to the stove and ignites the burner, holding her hands above the warmth as she listens to Roland launch into a story about how much he loves blueberry pancakes, retelling a story he tells every time she makes them about the first time he had blueberry pancakes. She grins at the memory, remembering the first night he and Robin had stayed over. She’d woken up early and made a big breakfast—pancake with a homemade blueberry and whipped cream toppings—and the four of them had spent a lazy morning, eating pancakes and watching cartoons. Then, it had been a calm in the storm, a way to shut away the world for just a little while, and just be—then somehow along the way, it’s turned into a family tradition…even if it was a tradition that only she and Roland were excited about.

She melts the butter on the skillet and Henry sighs as he looks up at her, half-heartedly telling her that the batter is done. She rolls her eyes as he slides down against the countertop, his arms stretching out as his cheek presses to against the cool granite.

“Henny, up!” Ellie demands, now awake and watching her brother with wide eyes.

“Just five minutes,” he murmurs.

But Ellie’s brow creases and her chubby hand reaches toward him—and though she can’t reach him, her wrist flops back and forth as she tries to tap him. She pouts a little as her hand flaps in the air. “Henny…”

“Five minutes…”

Regina shakes her head at him as she opens one of the drawers, plucking out a cup and handing it to Roland, whose fingers are sticky with blueberry. Knowing the routine, he scoops out a cup of the powdered sugar and mixes it into the blueberries, stirring it and doing his best not to let the blueberries slosh out of the bowl—and Ellie’s attention turns to him, once more fixated on the blueberry topping.

“You know what to do next?”

Roland nods, grinning up at her proudly. “I remember. I mix in the rest of the blueberries.”

“Good job,” she murmurs, grinning as she leans in and presses a kiss to his forehead. “That’s why you’re my favorite.”

“Hey…”

“He helps,” Regina says with a wink. “You lay there and complain.”

“I’m a teenager,” Henry counters, feigning offense. “That’s what I do.”

Regina laughs and again rolls her eyes, wetting a dish cloth and handing it Roland to clean up his hands. He takes it as he gingerly drops in the rest of the berries, giggling as the whole berries sink and disappear into the mashed ones.

“You know,” Henry begins. “You could give us all an extra half an hour of sleep Saturday mornings if you just used your magic to make breakfast.”

“But that wouldn’t be any fun,” Roland says, as he cleans off his hands.

“And you could go find Robin,” she murmurs, taking the bowl of batter from him and leaning in to drop a kiss over the top of his head. “He should be down here by now and the pancakes will be ready in a few minutes. “Take your sister with you.”

Henry sighs, but nonetheless stands up and pulls Ellie from her highchair. Her arms wrap around his neck and he can’t even pretend to be disgruntled as she cuddles into him, resting her head against his shoulder. Regina grins as Henry kisses Ellie’s cheek and her grin brightens as she nuzzles against him and they start toward the stairs.

She can feel Roland’s eyes on her as she pours the batter into the skillet, watching as the pancakes begin to bubble and pop, and she hears him giggle with excited anticipation as she flips the first two. She can faintly hear Henry calling for Robin upstairs as she dips her ladle back into the batter—and then a high-pitched screeching cry sends the batter flying. Her breath catches as Ellie cries out—but then, her cries are followed by a burst of laughter from Robin and Henry.

Her brow furrows as she looks back at Roland, who only shrugs his shoulders as they both look to the stairs.

She can hear Robin and Henry laughing as Ellie continues to scream and cry, the sounds getting louder as they near.

She sees Henry first—grinning widely and trying unsuccessfully not to laugh as Robin trails behind him, his soothing and reassuring words mixed with bouts of laughter as a red-faced Ellie screams from his arms.

“What hap…” Her voice halts as she looks at Robin. His cheeks are shaven, his beard completely gone and he laughing uncontrollably as she shakes his head, unable to explain what’s just happened. Ellie leans out of his arms, desperately reaching out to her as she continues to scream and tears run down her chubby cheeks. “Oh, baby,” she murmurs as she pulls her into her arms and holds her against her chest. “It’s just daddy.”

“No…” Ellie disagrees, shaking her head as she buries her face into her mother’s pajama top. “Not daddy.”

“But, sweetheart, it is,” Regina says, laughing a little as rocks her.

“Um, not to interrupt,” Roland begins, nervously jumping off the counter. “But the pancakes…”

“Oh,” Regina gasps, turning to the burnt batter on the skillet. “Henry can you…”

He’s already there, shoving the spatula beneath them as Roland grabs the garbage from beneath the sink, pouting as Henry drops in the two burnt pancakes—and all the while, Ellie continues to scream.

Regina looks Robin whose laughter has subsided and his frowning in the direction of their daughter, who’s unwilling to even look at him. She pulls away with Robin reach for her hand, turning her face away as he tries to look at her and burrowing deeper against Regina’s chest.

“Oh, baby…”

“I didn’t mean to scare her,” Robin says with a sheepish grin. “I didn’t think she’d…”

“Not recognize you?”

“Exactly,” he sighs, rubbing his palm against the little girl’s back. “Ellie, love…” He murmurs, grinning as he spots the mashed blueberries. Reaching out, he grabs the spoon, crouching down beside Regina so that he’s at eye-level with their daughter. “I have a peace offering,” he tells her as he holds up the blueberry-covered spoon.

And suddenly, her cries grow quieter.

She lifts up her head and sniffles as she stares at the spoon and then looks to Robin, with tentative and skeptical eyes. He grins at her as he tips the spoon forward, and once more sniffles as a little smile tugs at the corner of her mouth. Regina looks down at her, still rocking her in her arms as she looks between Robin and the spoon and then slowly reaches for it. When her hand touches the mashed blueberry, her grin widens and her fingers wrap around the spoon—and she giggles shyly at Robin, batting her eyelashes as she licks the spoon before tentatively holding out her chubby arms to Robin.

He takes her—and Regina can’t help but laugh out when her little fingers rub over Robin’s smooth cheeks, covering them with blueberry.

“Ew, babies are _so_ gross,” Roland murmurs, giggling as Henry drops a few more pancakes onto the serving plate in his hands. “But pancakes are _so_ good.”

Turning to him, Regina laughs. “Why don’t you two go set the table and I’ll finish those…”

“And I’ll just be upstairs…washing up…again,” Robin finishes as he turns out of the kitchen, with Ellie still nestled in his arms.

 

 


End file.
